ASA had announced that Darrell Amberson, AAM, owner of Lehman's Garage in Bloomington, Minnesota, will continue to serve as director of the Collision Division. As such, Amberson serves on ASA's board of directors and chairs the ASA Collision Division Operations Committee. 

Amberson

Jerry Burns, AAM, owner of Auto-motive Impressions in Rio Rancho, New Mexico is now serving as assistant collision division director.

In addition to Amberson and Burns, returning committee members are Dan Bailey, CARSTAR Inc., Overland Park, Kansas; Craig Griffin, Laney's Collision Centre, El Dorado, Arkansas; Ken Hanley, Five Star Collision Center, Houston, Texas; Harry Moppert, Moppert Brothers Collision Services Group, Morton, Pennsylvania.; Ron Nagy, AAM, Nagy's Body & Frame Shop Inc., Doylestown, Ohio; Carroll Proctor, A.C. Proctor's Paint & Body Shop, Augusta, Georgia.; and Roy Schnepper, Butler's Collision, Roseville, Michigan.

New to the committee are Scott Kallemeyn, AAM, Kallemeyn Collision Center, Palos Heights, Illinois; and Mike Schoonover, Schoonover Bodyworks Inc., St. Paul, Minnesota.

The 11 members of ASA's Collision Division Operations Committee represent shops of varying sizes from across the United States. The committee works on behalf of all ASA collision members to advance and promote the collision repair industry.

ASA Celebration of Excellence at NACE

ASA is finalizing plans for its second annual "Celebration of Excellence" event - a special evening function dedicated to honoring the achievements of ASA members and industry leaders. The event will be held Friday, November 4, at The Mirage in Las Vegas.

Pyle

ASA members who purchase a full registration to either the Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) or NACE will be eligible to receive a complimentary ticket to the evening gala complete with dinner and entertainment. Anyone not registered for NACE or CARS can purchase tickets for $75 per person. Ticket purchases must be made by October 3, 2005, and cannot be purchased at the event.

Registration details will be available soon on the Celebration of Excellence web site. Once posted, all Celebration of Excellence attendees must register for the event online at www.ASAcelebration.com. In addition to dinner, entertainment and an awards presentation, the program will include a graduation ceremony recognizing those who have earned the Automotive Management Institute's coveted Accredited Automotive Manager (AAM) designation.

The event will be held at The Mirage Events Center from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Attire for the Celebration of Excellence is semiformal, black tie optional. For more information, contact Robbie Talley, ASA's manager of Meetings and Travel, at (800) 272-7467, ext. 235, or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it For registration information, contact Carol Dennis, housing and registration specialist, (800) 272-7467, ext. 220, or carold@ asashop.org.

For sponsorship opportunities, contact John Scully, executive vice president, at (800) 272-7467, ext. 247, or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it "This event is designed to celebrate ASA's members and leaders. In addition to honoring their accom-plishments, it provides an unparalleled opportunity for the entire membership base to come together," said Ron Pyle, ASA president and chief staff executive. "Last year's gathering was a huge success. This year will be even better."

ASA wins award for lobbying website

TakingTheHill.com, the legislative web site of the Automotive Service Association (ASA), was recently recognized as an Honorable Mention Bronze Quill Award recipient from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

Sponsored by local chapters of IABC, the Bronze Quill Awards recognize excellence in business and organizational communications. Judged by leading professionals in the communications industry, awards are given based on conceptual strength, objectives and results achieved. This year's nominees were judged in 12 different categories, with TakingTheHill.com receiving the award in the best overall web site category.

"ASA is honored to be recognized for its electronic communications efforts," said Colby Horton, ASA's manager of web operations. "In creating TakingTheHill.com, the association took a significant step toward developing and improving its grassroots advocacy strategy. The participation and adoption of new technology from ASA members and other industry professionals contribute remarkably to the overwhelming success of the web site and in turn, is changing the overall advocacy process in our industry."

Launched in March 2004, Taking TheHill.com is responsible for sending more than 2,500 letters to elected federal and state officials on topics such as Association Health Plan (AHP) legislation, insurer-owned shops and vocational education. Compared to 2004, traffic to the site has doubled and subscriptions to the web site's Alert Network have almost tripled.